There were times this year when Angela Naeth could barely make it out of bed, so the last place she expected to be this October was the start line of the IRONMAN World Championship brought to you by Amazon. The two-time IRONMAN champion has made no secret of her battle with Lyme disease—an infection caused by a tick bite—and the havoc it has wreaked on her training, racing and health.

After months of taking different antibiotics to fight the disease and its co-infections, she says this past month she has finally been able to log some "stable" training miles and is looking forward to enjoying the "magic and energy" that comes from racing a World Championship event.

Qualifying for Kona is obviously no easy task, especially while fighting to get back to 100 percent health, so Naeth has had to learn to listen to her body and maximize the good days when they come.

"Each race this year has been an improvement and a learning experience of how to train and perform while on all of these different antibiotic medications," she says. "I decided to give qualifying for Kona a shot because you only get so many chances."

With the support and guidance of her coach and boyfriend, Tim Snow, she mapped out a path, taking things slowly. "It really became one day at a time, and sometimes even one workout at a time," she says.

Her perseverance and persistence has paid off, and her three third-place finishes at IRONMAN UK, IRONMAN Maastricht and IRONMAN Sweden this summer booked her ticket to the Island of Hawai`i.

She says: "To have the opportunity to race in Kona, despite all that has happened, is both a blessing and an honor. It also comes with a great deal of gratitude. This truly has taken a village and it wouldn’t have been possible without those who have supported me along the way."

Naeth, who has 19 IRONMAN 70.3 titles to her name, says she will maximize the opportunity to spread awareness about Lyme disease. As is the case with so many affected by the disease, it took a long time to find a diagnosis. She first realized something wasn't right at the end of last season when, after her typical two weeks of rest, she felt no better.

"I kept getting extreme pain in my torso, hips and legs that would subside, but then come back," she says. "I was not recovering well from workouts and I was willing myself to get out of bed most days. I couldn't sleep, I had high anxiety, and depression was starting to set in."

Typical symptoms for Lyme disease include rashes, fatigue, joint pain, flu-like symptoms, sleep disturbances and mood changes. "It is something that affects people in many different ways and can look like many different things, often going mis- or undiagnosed for years," says Naeth. "When first diagnosed, my symptoms took over my life. My hope is that if someone has any of these symptoms, which often elude doctors, they can consider the possibility of Lyme and/or other tick-borne illnesses and can get the proper testing to find out."

When it comes to race day this October 13, Naeth says: "I am just going to go out there and get the best out of myself on the day. I'm not even looking at it as a race; it is going to be a celebration."